A discussion on freedom

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oops:

 

What is my point?

I think i made myself clear in the OP about some people’s use of ‘freedom’.

And Outthere has made the wider point about how it is used by some politicians and media in the same way to emote rather than explain “the land of the free”, “we stand for freedom”, “leader of the free world” etc etc (anyone remember the ‘freedom fries’ that replaced French fries for a time?)*

As I say – “who doesn’t want freedom, who would object to it and, who would want to be seen opposing it”

I mean connecting your idea to ‘freedom’ must mean they are good ideas mustn’t it?

Freedom of the individual, freedom of choice, the free market, freeing up the economy etc

But unless there is explanation what is actually mean by all this ‘free’ talk - it seems to me that it can often clouds the argument rather than making it clearer. It becomes a fight between ‘freedom’ and those against ‘freedom’.
We have looked at the ‘freedom of the individual’ and the general view seems to be that it is and should be restrained by the community, there is a collectivist decision to limit the freedom of the individual.

I’ve often talked and championed the need for balance in the relationship between the individual and the community yet I’ve often been accused of being a hater of ‘freedom’.

 

One of the freedoms often put forward is ‘freedom of choice’ (the freedom to choose what you want to do, without outside hindrance).

Now again that freedom is going to come under the same curtailments as with ‘freedom of the individual’, but it also comes under other curtailments.
Often we cannot choose.

For example we cannot choose where and to whom we are born, and that can have one of the greatest effects on people’s lives.

And of course in a money based system then the choices open to someone with money is going to be greater than without.

So this means that freedom can be dependent on luck and can be unequal.
Now there are things that can be done to limit the effects of inequality, thereby increasing the ‘freedom of choice’ of many individuals, such as education and welfare.

But the means to increase many people’s freedom of choice often means the slight curtailment of others freedom of choice.